Culture and Its Impact Kennesaw State University ECE 7513

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Culture and Its ImpactKennesaw State
UniversityECE 7513

• By Carol Rackstein and Laura Hesson

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Many People Many Ways of Life

• This third grade class at Esther Jackson
  Elementary School is filled with
• children from many different cultures. It is an
  interesting place to learn.

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What is Culture?
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Culture
Traditionally we thing that culture is made up of
the ideas, skills, arts, music, literature,
tools, and way of life of certain people at a
certain time.
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Culture

• Culture is about survival. All cultures have a
  model of
• survival. We have to guarantee the survival of
  the next generation
• and teach them to survive.
• Survival Model
• Elements of Survival

Enculturation is the degree to which you
have been successfully instilling survival model.
Socialization is the transmission of survival to
the next generation.
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Socialization

• We are the socialization agents. We must transmit
  knowledge for the survival of the next
  generation.
• Just because groups want to survive doesnt mean
  they will. There is no guarantee.
• The survival of our current culture is dependent
  on our socialization of all todays children no
  matter what race, ethnicity, gender, or social
  economic status.
• We are all dependent on each other. We are all
  Americans. The survival of the American culture
  is in our hands.

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What is the culture of EJ?
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The Culture of EJS

• Socio-economic status 48.3 of our students are
  on free and reduced lunch.
• ESOL 23 of our population. Many other
  students have graduated out of our ESOL program
  but still require extra assistance.
• Parent involvement Many of our parents are not
  able to provide the necessary help at home due to
  the language barrier. While other parents are
  extremely involved in the classroom by tutoring
  other children, reading to the class, grading and
  running our enrichment/extra practice Math Super
  Star program, and helping set up classroom
  libraries through the PTA.

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Culture of EJ

• Transient population Many of our students
  frequently move in and out of our school due to
  switching apartments. We also have a certain
  percentage, that leave because they return to
  Mexico.
• Participation in after school events Many
  students participate in Book Club, Girl Scouts,
  Ballet, and Young Artists. We have an
  overwhelming participation when it comes to our
  Back to School Bash, Fall Festival, Multicultural
  Night, Bingo Night, Chick-fil-a Night, and the
  Talent Show.
• PTA Our PTA members plan the above functions
  for our school, pay for the transportation for
  one field trip, and offer us grants.

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The Achievement Gap

• What affects the achievement gap?
• Paul E. Barton did a recent study on factors
  that affect student achievement. He found
  fourteen points that impact academic success. In
  this study Barton (2004, p. 10) found that birth
  weight, lead poisoning, hunger and nutrition,
  reading to young children, television watching,
  parent availability, student mobility, parent
  participation, rigor of curriculum, teacher
  experience and attendance, teacher preparation,
  class size, technology-assisted instruction, and
  school safety.

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What role does EJs culture play in the
achievement gap?

• We have a high population of free and reduced
  lunch.
• High percentage of latch key kids.
• High ESOL population- parents cant help kids at
  home.
• Our students are transient.

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Ethnic Diversity of EJ
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Gap at EJ

• We are a Title 1 Distinguished School. We have
  documentation of continued achievement for all
  students. However, that achievement isnt
  reflected in the published test scores.
• We agree with Popham (2004, p. 48) when he said,
  If we referred to the gaps as test score gaps
  rather than achievement gaps, people might become
  more aware of the inappropriateness of using test
  scores as the sole benchmark for student
  achievement.

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How do we make learning meaningful for all
students?

• In order for teachers to make instruction
  meaningful, they need to use . . .instructional
  examples that reflect and connect to the cultures
  and experiences of ethnically diverse students.
  (Gay, 1992, p. 34)
• Not all examples are suited for every ethnic and
  cultural group. A teacher needs to be able to
  find and implement varied examples that meet a
  variety of ethnic and cultural groups in their
  daily lessons.

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Making Learning More Meaningful
Geneva Gay gives many examples for making
learning more meaningful. (Gay, 1998)

• Teachers must become more decisive about how best
  to work with the ethnic and cultural diversity of
  their classroom instead of relying on others to
  provide them with answers.
• As a teacher you need to know the content,
  conventions, and experiences of the cultures of
  students that make up your classroom. Then
  incorporate that into the daily routine.
• At the beginning of the year we need to create
  appropriate classroom climates to promote
  learning for all students.
• We need to have high expectations for all
  students. Dont reserve higher level thinking
  questions for students who speak the native
  language.
• Teachers should talk less and allow students to
  lead discussions.

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Suggestions for achieving a multicultural
learning environment.
Geneva Gay lists many ideas to achieve a
multicultural environment including some of these
ideas. (2004)

• Peer tutors
• Cooperative groups
• Pairing students
• Centers
• Incorporating technology
• Hands on learning
• Allowing for more student movement
• Establish a trusting relationship between
  teachers and students. Create a safe environment.
  
• Employ a democratic classroom
• Incorporate many cultures in books, music, art,
  posters, and other instructional materials.

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Piecing It Together
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Now what?

• Multicultural Education provides a lot of
  problems and theories, but it doesnt provide
  clear cut solutions.
• There is no one best solution.
• Susan R. Warren says, It is time that
  educational reform prompt educators to transform
  beliefs, practices, and policies in ways that
  nurture, challenge intellectually, and promote
  the interests of all students. (2002, p. 114)
• Wayne E. Wright encourages schools to adopt
  high-quality language programs hat ensure that
  English language learners become the
  well-educated bilingual citizens that the United
  States so desperately need. And lets remove the
  burden of preparing English language learners for
  state tests from teachers so they can focus
  instead on their students linguistic, cultural,
  and academic needs. (2006, pg 26)

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The Most Important Question!
What can we do about it?
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Bibliographic Information

• Barton, P. E. (2004). Why does the gap persist?
  Educational Leadership, 62(3), 8-13.
• Diaz, C. F. (1992). Multicultural education for
  the 21st century. In G. Gay (Eds.), Effective
  Multicultural Teaching Practices (pp. 23-39).
  Washington, D.C.NEA Professional Library,
  National Education Association.
• Popham, W. J. (2004). A game without winners.
  Educational Leadership, 62(3), 46-50.
• Smith, C. R. (2003). I am america. Singapore
  Scholastic Incorporated.
• Warren, S. R. (2002). Stories from the
  classrooms How expectations and efficacy of
  diverse teachers affect the academic performance
  of children in poor urban schools. Educational
  Horizons, 80(3),109-116.
• Wright, W. E. (2006). A catch-22 for language
  learners. Educational Leadership, 64(3), 22-27.